I'm in the market for a new laptop, considering my current one has a broken hinge and turns itself on at random. My HP Pavilion dv9000 I bought for school has served me well, but it's finally time to retire it. ::sigh:: It lasted me for my AAS in EET and my BSTM. I need something durable, about 15", with 10keypad, a largish HDD and enough RAM to last through my masters program.
I went to the Microsoft Store in Scottsdale. Wow. They sure know how to supply the eye candy! There were two laptops that caught my eye and had the features I need. The white one was $699 and you get a free XBOX360 with it! Woot! Sadly, it is made by Sony. Due to their questionable ethics and propensity to sue their customers, I will not give any money to them.
That leaves the $949 Toshiba Satellite with more RAM (6GB) and larger HDD (750GB) (it has other features as well, but I'm not interested in Blu-ray and WiDi ATM.) It also includes the XBOX360. The laptop itself stretches my budget, and I'd be getting the Kinect with it so the kids can get exercise playing games so there's another $150 to add on. I'm not sure I want to spend the money, but I need a new portable computer.
Hmm. Decisions, decisions. The free XBOX offer ends Saturday, so I have some time to decide.
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Phone virus scam alert!
So this morning I get a call just as I am waking up. A polite gentleman with a heavy Indian accent (dot, not feather) informs me that he is from Microsoft and my computer has a virus. Groggy, I'm not sure what to do but stall for time. I tell him I'm not near my computer, please call later. So I start some digging. Google is a wonderful search tool! First, I do not allow remote access to incoming calls nor do I give out information to unsolicited callers. I'm pretty sure this is a scam.
Sure enough, the second call gave me enough information to dig up some dirt. 360 PC Support (the company that called) is not Microsoft, and is not a MS partner like they said they were. They are a call centre in Mumbai with a 404 area code call back number (Atlanta, Georgia.) They originally said they were Microsoft. I called them on it and they said they were actually representatives (partners) of MS and that I have a virus on my computer. They have called me three times this morning. The second time I told them to not call me again. They are insisting that I allow them to remote access my computer or my computer will crash. Obviously, I do not allow this.
This type of scam is hard to control, according to several websites I used to research. The Guardian wrote a good article describing the scam. They are also calling in Australia, and America as well now. http://answers.microsoft.com Apparently, they are using phone lists to call, since I do not share my phone number with MS. Interestingly, he never called me by name that I recall, which is another telltale, since a legitimate organization will call you by name. However, some scammers will have your name, so just because they know who you are does not mean they are legit! Be careful and happy computing!
Sure enough, the second call gave me enough information to dig up some dirt. 360 PC Support (the company that called) is not Microsoft, and is not a MS partner like they said they were. They are a call centre in Mumbai with a 404 area code call back number (Atlanta, Georgia.) They originally said they were Microsoft. I called them on it and they said they were actually representatives (partners) of MS and that I have a virus on my computer. They have called me three times this morning. The second time I told them to not call me again. They are insisting that I allow them to remote access my computer or my computer will crash. Obviously, I do not allow this.
This type of scam is hard to control, according to several websites I used to research. The Guardian wrote a good article describing the scam. They are also calling in Australia, and America as well now. http://answers.microsoft.com Apparently, they are using phone lists to call, since I do not share my phone number with MS. Interestingly, he never called me by name that I recall, which is another telltale, since a legitimate organization will call you by name. However, some scammers will have your name, so just because they know who you are does not mean they are legit! Be careful and happy computing!
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